COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Princeton women head to Texas, take on Florida State

By
Nick Peruffo, The Trentonian

Monday, March 18, 2013

PRINCETON — The Princeton Tigers are headed west.

When the women’s NCAA bracket was reveled Monday night, the Tigers (22-6, 13-1) learned they’ll be heading to Waco, Texas as the ninth seed in the Oklahoma City region. There, they’ll take on eighth-seed Florida State at 5:10 p.m. Sunday.

Though the Tigers — who watched ESPN’s selection special from an upstairs banquet room at Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton — had to wait until almost the entire bracket was announced before learning their fate, it wasn’t particularly surprising where they eventually ended up.

Because Princeton expected to be an eighth seed, and because it had played closer to home in the last two NCAA tournaments, Waco always seemed likely.

“I texted my mom before the show, and said we’re going to Waco,” coach Courtney Banghart said after the dust had settled.

ESPN’s mock bracket also had the Tigers playing in Baylor’s gym — though many of the Princeton players didn’t have much faith in the bracketologists.

“We normally never look at predictions, because they’re normally always off,” senior guard Lauren Polansky said half-jokingly. “Because they said that, we thought it would be somewhere else. That was sort of in the back of our minds, but 15 minutes ago coach Banghart said ‘Florida State, Waco.’ She had it right.”

Princeton also got some nice support from University President Dr. Shirley Tilghman, who arrived at the viewing party just in time to see where the Tigers would end up.

“She came last year too, and it was great to have her back,” said senior Niveen Rasheed.

The Seminoles (22-9, 11-7) had a rough end to their season, losing six of their last 11 games and falling to Duke in the ACC semifinals. Still, Florida State ranks as perhaps the toughest opponent Princeton has faced this season.

“They’re pretty guard oriented, and senior oriented,” Banghart said in a snap scouting report. “Their two leading scorers (Leonor Rodriguez and Alexa Deluzio) are guards and they play in a tough conference, one of the best in our game. You aren’t going to get a bad team in the NCAA tournament, and they are no exception.”

Having won the past four Ivy League championships, this will be Princeton’s fourth NCAA tournament appearance under Banghart. While the Tigers have set plenty of records, they’ve yet to win a game in March Madness. With four key seniors on the team — Rasheed, Polansky, Kate Miller and Meg Bowen — expectations are high that this could be the year for Princeton to break through.

“The athletic mortality of seniors is something that can’t be overstated,” Banghart said. “It’s win or go home now.”

If Princeton does manage to beat Florida State, it won’t get much time to celebrate. Barring a monumental upset, it would have to face Baylor, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, on the Bears’ home floor. Just before their matchup was announced, the Tigers were forced to sit through a highlight reel of dunks by Baylor’s 6-foot-8 center Brittney Griner.

“We’ve never faced anything like that,” Miller said. “It’s a bridge we’re going to have to cross when we get there. We can’t overlook Florida State. It’s not going to be easy.”

Having been a heavy favorite in nearly every game they’ve played for the past two and a half months, the Tigers are welcoming the challenge.

“We’ve been hunted all year long, and that target is getting a little heavy,” Banghart said. “Now we get to do a little hunting of our own.”